, 1887-01-22
MANUFACTURE OF VALENTINES.

rhe vatious Processes which Are En-
ployed-Poetry by tho Yard.
The average citizen is not apt to receive
a comic valentine descriptive of his prin-
cipal fault or weakness with any degree
of pleasure. He oftener gets mad and
in some cases searches for the sender. A
factory in this city has, during the past
ten months, turned out 10, 900, 900 comic
and 5000. 900 sentimental valentines.
With such advantages practical jokers
and lovers will have plenty of material
with which to work on Feb. IA, Valen-
tines birthday. The former prevalent
custom of venting a petty spite by send
ing a comic valentine has comparatively
died out in the eastern and middle states.
West of the Mississippi river the valentine
has, however, a ready sale.
l recently paid a visit to the above
mentioned factory. The many opera
tons through which toy books and valen-
tines pass before they are ready to be de-
livered to the retailer are interesting.
The first floor of the factory is occupied
by paper cutting and enclosing machines.
The paper on which valentines are printed
is received from the manufactures direct.
and is not in a condition for use. 1t
must be cut in pieces, AK 1-2 feet, and
Oh which are stamped sixteen comic val
entines. After being cut, the paper is
taken to the second floor and printed.
Three hundred out of the 400 employees
in the factory are women and girls.
While the majority of the work is lone
by skilled labor, some departments are
operated wholly by machinery.
On the sixth or top floor half u dozen
artists draw the pictures used i'll valen-
tines and toy books. After a drawing is
made and photographed the negative is
coated with a solution and exposed to the
sun The negative is again coated, this
time with photographic ink, and placed in
a basin of water barely deep enough to
cover it. The ink is washed off, except
that part of the plate on which the draw
ing ha1 been photographed. The mega
tive is then ready for the etcher. The
etching process is too well known to bear
repeating here. After the drawing has
been etched on a zinc plate it is ready for
the press. The operation by which
rough zinc is made smooth is interesting.
The zinc is placed under movable emery
papers, which are changed half hourly.
These papers vary from hard to soft. Tho
constant friction OF the emery wears
away the zinc, 80 that in time it becomes
us smooth as glass. Seven papers, differ
ing in quality and thickness, are used in
the operation.
Superintendent Thompson estimated
that the firm owned 100, 600 steel and
zinc plates. 1t must not Do supposed that
a valentine can be struck off complete by
one impression. In some cases valen-
tines pass through no less than a dozen
impressions. Each impression adds a
different shade or color to the picture.
Take for example a drawing of a ma
chinist at work. The mans hat is red.
his face and arms are pink, his hair and
mustache are blue. with a tinge of black,
the apron and table are yellow, the
trousers green, while his shoes are blue,
with a tinge of black.
Sentimental valentines are made Of
fancy paper and satin. The plates pass
through the same process as comics. The
handsome, highly perfumed valentines,
which the languishing swain pays from
50 to 81 for, are hand painted, or, as the
superintendent said, touched up. The
touching up consists Of artistically daub-
ing paint here and there about the outer
surface of the valentine. These hasty
strokes result in flowers, pictures descrip-
tive of the billings of turtle doves, and
pastoral scenes. The valentine firm en-
ploys a poet, to whom it pays a weekly
salary. This genius writes yards upon
yards of poetry (O daily. The firms pro
duction of comic valentines this year in
clude 1000 different designs and the
anne number Of original verses. The
poet has within the past six months
written Z, 600 comic verses, in addition
to 800 verses of sentimental poetry. 1t
is said that valentine poetry is difficult to
write, and if this be true the composer OF
1900 verses averaging eight lines each.
is entitled to no little consideration. -
Cor. Brooklyn Eagle.